Holder for collapsible tubes



March 13, 1951 D. ELTERMAN ETAL HOLDER FOR coLLAPsIBLE TUBES Filed March50, 1949 Patented Mar. 13, 1951 HOLD-ER.. FOR GOLLAPSIBLE TUBES,

Daniel Elterman, Northport, Leonard E. Elterman, East Northport, andWalterY Elterman,

Brooklyn, Y.

Application March. so, 194.9., serial No..v 84,366

obvious and in part willv be pointed out. hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,Acombinations of elements, and arrangements. of. partsV which will; beexemplified in the construction hereinafter described and illustratedandoi which the scope i. application willbe indicated, in. the appendedclaims...

In the accompanying drawings in which isshown one of the yariouspossible embodiments of the invention,

Fig., 1 is a central vertical' section. through. a l;

tube holder. constructed in accordance with the invention, a. tube beingpositioned therein;

Fig. 2 is a. front view. of said tube holder;

Fig.. 3 is a top view of the. tube holder withits cap partly broken awayto show certain details of construction.;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line, 4--4 of11;.

Fig. 5. is a fragmentary enlarged sectional View taken substantiallyalong the. lineA 5,-5 of Eig. 1;

. Fig. 6 isan exploded side.- view of the tube holder.

Referring now in. detail' to. the drawings, the

reference numeral [0. denotes. a tube holder embodying the inventionand' constituting a base l2, a pedestal I4 and a top I6, the pedestalserving as an off-center support to. hold the top in elevated conditionrelative to the base,4 All these parts of the holder can. be fabricatedtrom anysuitable self-form-maintaining materiali. Hewever., the samepreferably are. made from a plasi, tic, inasmuch as several otherwisenecessary machine operations thereby are eliminatedx and f since the useof plastic permits the. elimination of a spring, as later will beapparent` To enable the holder to accommodate tubes of diierent sizes,the pedestal is so constructed that its length can be adjusted.. To thisend. the pedestal is made, in two halves, tri-wit, an upper- 4 Claims.(CL. 248-109).

half |'8 and a lower half 0, the upper half being molded in onepiecewith the top I 6 and-the lower halfA being molded in one piece with thebase I2, Such arrangement has the further advantage of simplifyingmolding procedure. The upper pedestal half has a cross-sectionalconfiguration which, roughly, is of U-shape. More specically, thecross-sectional' configuration of said upper half isY arcuate, being inthe form offa thin-walled semi-circle, as best: seen in Fig. 4:. Thelower half 2-0 of the pedestal has a matching thin-walledcross-sectional conguration (likewise seen in Fig. 4'), so that.' itis'adapted to; telescopicallyreceive the upper half.

In order to guide the upper half vertically in its movement relative tothe lowerI half and to prevent relative rotation of these two circularlyf shaped halves, one of said halves is formed with at least onevertically extending projection and the other halfA with a matingirregularity; As shown herein, the verticallyv extending projection isin the form of a pair of Vertical ribs4 22, 24 projecting outwardlvfromadjacent the vertical side edges of the upper pedestal half I8. Theseribs slidably enga-ge mating slots'l 26', 28 molded in. an inwardlydirectedflange 3i at the top edgeI of the lower pedestal half' 20. Inaddition, the forward faces of the ribs ride on the rear faces of a pairof inwardly extendingfvertical rails; 32, 34 fashioned on theverticalside edges of the lower pedestal half. Thus, the; upper half isheld captive in the lower half.

The pedestal alsoA includes means to hold the twohalves in any adjustedposition. Such means comprises a vertically extending series of nulos orteeth 36 projecting rearwardly from the outer back surfaceof the.y upperpedestal half. The top e-nd of the series of teeth isI located adiacentthe top of the-upper pedestal half and the bottom end of the series ofteeth is spaced from the-bottom edge of said pedestal half. From thelower- Aiange is not notched to pass thev teeth 3E. However, due to theinherent resilience of thin sections of plastic material, the dan-ge 30will flex outwardly and the, upper half will flex inwardly in the regionoi the. teeth when the upperpedestal half is lifted. or depressed withsufcient force. 'This action permits passage of the. teeth in eitherdirection. Only a few pounds of eEort ls required thus to move the upperpedestal half relative to the lower half, this being suiliciently greatto prevent accidental displacement, but not enough to render adjustmentdifficult. Further to facilitate this adjustment, the edges of the teethare rounded as shown in Fig. l, whereby the teeth exert a camming actionon the flange 30.

Extension of the upper half is limited by abutment of the ledge 38against the flange. Due to the breadth of the ledge, neither half canflex suciently to pass the ledge beneath the rim of the flange.

The base l2 is fashioned with a narrow horizontally elongated well 4I]which is designed to receive the folded metal strip 42 conventionallypresent on the bottom of a standard collapsible dispensing tube 44. Therear end of the well opens into the hollow portion` of the pedestalthereby to permit tubes having overly long strips 42 to be accommodatedby the holder.

The top I6, which is substantially parallel to the base I2, is fashionedto provide a cup-shaped interior in which there is adapted to be locatedand concealed the frusto-conical top 45 of the standard tube 44. It isdesirable to have the holder top I6 taper upwardly somewhat, for exampleby having the top provided with steps d,

as indicated, to roughly match in its over-all taper, the taper of thetop of the conventional tube 44.

The flat upper surface of said top is provided with a through opening 5Bdesigned to pass the male threaded neck 52 of the conventional tube 44.Optionally, the opening 5G may include two or more overlapping circularopenings, as shown, which are of different diameters in order to enablethe holder to receive tubes having different sized necks. These openingsare designed to receive the neck of the tube after the tube cap has beenremoved.

` The top i6 also includes a cap 54 having a hollow interior and a corkply 5B covering the inside surface of its crown. The rear edge of thecap has a pair of outwardly extending registered trunnions 58. Thesetrunnions are located be- Y* tween a pair of fingers 6D projectingupwardly from the top I6 and having inwardly directed flanges 62, 64along its upper and side edges. Saidl flanges define a space wherein thetrunnions are captively held. The rear edge 56 of the cap is rounded, asindicated in Fig. 1, and is adapted to rest on a matching concave seat68 in the top I. Such mounting of the cap permits the same to rotatefreely and also to shift vertically through short distances. In thisfashion the cap better is able to adjust itself to different lengths ofnecks after the holder top I6 has been pushed down to engage the top 45of the tube around the base of the neck. The cork ply 56 is employedbetter to vclose the open mouth of the dispensing tube when the same isleft in the holder without its normal screw top.

It thus will be seen that there is provided a holder for collapsibletubes which achieves the several objects of the invention and is welladapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention,and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth,it is to be understood that all matter herein described, or shown in theaccompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having thus described the invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent:

1. A plastic holder for collapsible dispensing tubes, said holdercomprising a base, a top and a thin-walled offset pedestalinterconnecting said base and top, said pedestal being of U-shapedconfiguration with the inside of the U facing toward the space betweenthe base and top, said pedestal constituting two halves which arenestably interengaged, means to guide said halves for vertical movementrelative to one another, a vertically extending series of symmetricalhorizontal teeth carried by the upper pedestal half, the upper andloweredges of the tips of said teeth converging toward one another, the lowerpedestal half having an inwardly directed flange in one piece therewithat its top edge, said flange slidably engaging the rear external surfaceof the Ving a broad low ledge below the teeth which slidably engages theforward inner surface of the lower half and is adapted to abut theflange and act as an upper limit stop, the top being provided with athrough opening to pass the neck of the tube, a cap provided withtrunnions, and a pair of erect fingers on the top with inwardlyextending flanges defining spaces higher than the trunnions and withinwhich'said trunnions are received. said capv having a rounded rear edgeand said top having a concave seat below said rear edge whereby the capis pivotally mounted on the top in such fashion as to permit limitedvertical movement.

2. A plastic holder for collapsible dispensing tubes, said holdercomprising a base, a top and a thin-walled offset pedestalinterconnecting said base and top, said pedestal being of U-shapedconfiguration with the inside of the U facing toward the space betweenthe base and top, said pedestal constituting two halves which arenestably interengaged, means to guide said halves for vertical 'movementrelative to one another, a vertically 44'extending series of symmetricalhorizontal teeth carried by the upper pedestal half, the upper and loweredges ofthe tinsof said teeth converging toward one another, the lowerpedestal half having an inwardly directed flange in one niece therewithat its top edge, said flange slidably engaging the rear external surfaceof the upper half whereby said halves will flex to permit forcedmovement of the teeth past the flange and thereby hold the pedestalhalves in any adjusted position of the same, the upper pedestal .halfhaving a broad low ledge below the'teeth which slidably engages theAforward inner surface of the lower half and is adapted to abut theflange and act as an upper limit stop, the top being provided with athrough opening to pass the neck of the tube, and a cap pivotallymounted on the top.

, vertical movement relative to one another, and a vertically extendingseries of symmetrical horizontal teeth carried by the upper pedestalhalf, the Upper and lower edges of the tips of said teeth Yconvergingtoward one another, the lower pedestal half having an inwardly directedange in one piece therewith at its top edge, said flange slidablyengaging the rear external surface of the upper half whereby said halveswill flex to permit forced movement of the teeth past the ange andthereby hold the pedestal halves in any adjusted position of the same,the upper pedestal half having a broad low ledge below the teeth whichslidably engages the forward inner surface of the lower half and isadapted to abut the ange and act as an upper limit stop, the top beingprovided with a through opening to pass the neck of the tube.

4. A plastic holder for collapsible dispensing tubes, said holdercomprising a base, a top and a l thin-walled offset pedestalinterconnecting said base and top, said pedestal being of U-shapedconguration with the inside of the U facing toward the space between thebase and top, said pedestal constituting two halves which are nestablyinterengaged, the lower half having a pair of inwardly extending railsalong its Vertical side edges, the upper half riding on the rear face ofsaid rails and being captively held thereby in the lower half, and meansto maintain said two halves in any adjusted position, said last-namedmeans comprising a vertically extending series of symmetrical horizontalteeth carried by the upper pedestal half, the upper and lower edges ofthe tips of said teeth converging toward one another, the lower pedestalhalf having an inwardly directed flange in one piece therewith at itstop edge, said ange slidably engaging the rear external surface of theupper half whereby said halves will ilex to permit forced movement ofthe teeth past the llange and thereby hold the pedestal halves in anyadjusted position of the same.

DANIEL EL'IERMAN.

LEONARD E. ELTERMAN.

WALTER ELTERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

